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Feminists who want to limit opportunities for men and boys have long abused Title IX when it comes to college sports. Now we can expect the same assault against men who are interested in math and science. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires that schools and colleges receiving federal funding not discriminate “on the basis of sex.” Radical feminists have used this law to abolish hundreds of men’s sports teams, including 500 wrestling teams.
The Obama Administration has announced a new set of policies that would apply Title IX to science, technology, engineering, and math courses. Just as enforcement of Title IX has caused gender quotas on school sports teams, increased enforcement in math and science education will bring us artificial enrollment limits on men. Legal precedents have made it very difficult for school sports teams to comply with Title IX without imposing gender quotas, and it’s unlikely that math and science education will be different.

Fewer women major in math, science and engineering because they choose to study other things. When college women study science, they tend to gravitate toward biology. Women earn only about 17% of bachelor’s degrees in engineering and computer science. The fact that engineering departments are filled mostly with men does not mean they discriminate against women any more than the fact that English departments are filled mostly with women proves that English departments discriminate against men.

The use of Title IX to force universities to change the science and engineering departments in order to achieve so-called gender equity isn’t just heavy-handed and totalitarian. As study after study indicates, it’s bad science as well, and it’s not justified by the law. This shifts the focus from equality of opportunity to equality of results, substituting feminist policy for students’ own preferences.

Contributing Editor, Phyllis Schlafly, is the Founder and President of Eagle Forum, a national radio show host, and a best-selling author.